One of the regular features of Grenada’s carnival seems to be the perennial controversies surrounding the staging of activities for carnival or the results of judges in competitions, the competence of the judges or the payment of prize monies or something of that nature. This year’s carnival, thus far, has not been devoid of its fair share of controversy. Many persons have lamented the omission of some artistes from the finals of competitions and night before (August 5), at the Groovy Soca Monarch finals, the judges stunned many patrons and listeners by announcing three ties in the competition: for the 1st place, the 8th place and the 11th place. Randy Isaac and Keithy Boi both tied for the 1st position – both amassing a total of 213 points while Papa Jerry and Yaga shared the 8th position with 186 points and Terror Kid and Cammie shared the 11th position with 182 points. The results of the competition are as follows: 1st - Randy Isaac and Keithy Boi - 213 points 3rd – Croquetta - 206 points 4th - .Irvin Isaac - 205 points 5th - Shortpree - 203 points 6th - .KJ – 197 points 7th - Pupa Lendi – 193 points 8th - Papa Jerry and Yaga - 186 points 10th - Renee – 183 points 11th - Terror Kid and Cammie - 182 points 13th - Baby Silk – 181 points 14th - Blood Fire – 176 points 15th - Tracy – 173 points 16th - Rankin Marvin – 158 points The major talking point coming out of the event, however, has been the position of the young artiste from Carriacou, Shortpree, who came 5th in the competition but judging on his brilliant all-round performance, many viewers were of the opinion that he could have placed much higher, possibly tie with Randy Isaac for the first position. The young man, however, took the disappointment well and pledged to use the feedback from the judges to improve on his craft. The Soca Monarch Finals comes up at the National Stadium tonight (Friday 7) and a massive crowd of soca fans are expected to converge at the facility to enjoy the show. A number of popular soca artistes are carded to come up against each other, including the reigning kings, Luni Sparks and Electrify who will try to keep the title for the third consecutive year. One thing is quite certain - many of the big name soca artistes have their loyal fans and it does not matter how the judges rule, it is expected that the fans of some of the artistes who fail to gain top positions will be disappointed and people will have their own views on what the results should be. Judging events around carnival time, with so many passionate supporters intricately involved, can be one of the toughest jobs available and it is certainly not the territory for the thin-skinned or the weak-hearted.